Thoughts on a comic I won't be reading

Kalinara has a post up about the Flash, whose title I don't read. I like Wally all right, just not as a solo act. So I'm not sure what the backstory is here but it apparently has to do with Wally's kids acting as superheroes? And why that's bad?

I haven't read the story, probably won't, might look at discussion of it online if there is any more.

But I am curious about what's unique about the situation with Wally and his kids that makes it so different from all the other hero-kids in the DC universe.

Is it that he is actively encouraging their activity as opposed to "reluctantly" allowing it (a typical way to let the kid heroes exist while eliminating adult responsibility for what may happen to them--"aw, they're just going to do it anyway...").

Is it that he's the kids' biological father, rather than their mentor or guardian? (Because a "real" parent shouldn't put his kids in danger, but if it's just your ward or whatever, it's okay?)

Is it that the mother is also okay with this? That there's no familial "voice of reason" objecting to it?

Obviously I don't know, and won't unless some kind soul fills me in. :)

But I do know one thing, which is that there is a difference between kid heroes acting alone, and kid heroes acting in concert with adult heroes. Between teenage superheroes, and teenage sidekicks. And, while I don't see the teenage hero disappearing any time soon, I do think that the concept is just going to become more and more difficult to work with. Our society keeps a much closer eye on its' kids than it did even twenty years ago--parents are held liable for things that, in decades past, would have been considered accidents, no one's fault.

And I'm not saying that that's a bad thing--I'm saying that it makes any parent who is too supportive of their kid superhero's work seem like a bad parent. Unless there's some token objection to the kid taking that path, the parent seems careless, or even uncaring. The days when kids could roam the neighborhood freely all summer long, coming home only for meals and bedtime, are long gone, and the days when kid superheroes could fight crime together with no parental repercussions are also gone.

Which is probably why there's still a preponderance of kid superheroes who have no parents, are estranged from their parents, or who have been in some way exiled from their proper home. The issue is dealt with by making it a non-issue.

But Wally? I guess I just need to know more before making a judgment there.